2013/10/11

By Stephen Lendman: US Globalized Torture Black Sites:

On October 5, US Delta Force commandos, CIA operatives, and FBI agents abducted Abu Anas al-Liby. Doing so highlights what's been out-of-control since 9/11. In the 1980s, al-Liby was one of many CIA-recruited mujahideen fighters. They were used against Afghanistan's Soviet occupiers. Ronald Reagan called them "the moral equivalent of our founding fathers." He characterized Contra killers the same way. Bin Laden, al-Liby, and many other Al Qaeda fighters were used strategically as both allies and enemies. Most recently, al-Liby was an anti-Gaddafi "freedom fighter". In 2000, he was indicted for his alleged role in bombing US Kenyan and Tanzanian embassies in 1998. He was one of the FBI's most wanted. He had a $5 million bounty on his head. US policy is out-of-control. Obama authorizes whatever he wants anywhere worldwide. Rogue leaders operate that way. On October 8, AP headlined "Did Obama Swap 'Black' Detention sites for ships?" He ordered alleged "terrorists for as long as it takes aboard US naval vessels." Al-Libi is held on the USS San Antonio. It's an amphibious warship. Throughout his tenure, Obama continued the worst of odious Bush administration practices. The Clinton administration began them. Guilt or innocence doesn't matter. Suspects are lawlessly abducted. They're denied all rights. They're held secretly at US black sites. Confessions are extracted through torture. Detainees say anything to stop pain. Guantanamo is the tip of the iceberg. Dozens of US torture prisons operate globally. Afghanistan, Egypt, Ethiopia, Jordan, Kenya, Libya, Saudi Arabia, Turkey and many other complicit US allies host them. They permit indefinite detention, interrogations, torture and other forms of abuse. They assist in capturing and transporting detainees. They allow use of their domestic airspace. They provide intelligence information. America is by far the world's leading human rights abuser. No nation in history matches its ruthlessness. It's out-of-control. It's unaccountable. It's waging war on humanity. It's waging war on humanity. It's doing it globally. Reprieve is UK-based. It works to "secure each person's right to a fair trial." It tries to "save lives." In June 2008, it said America "may have used as many as 17 ships as floating prisons." "About 26,000 people are being lawlessly held by the US in secret prisons, a figure that includes land-based detention centers." Information suggests up to 80,000 have been 'through the system' since 2001." So have thousands more under Obama. Former Pentagon spokesman Navy Commander Jeffrey Gordon lied earlier, saying: "We do not operate detention facilities on board Navy ships." They're in Iraq, Afghanistan and Guantanamo Bay." They're in at least 54 complicit countries. according to Reprieve: "prison ships have been used by the US to hold terror suspects illegally since the days of Clinton." "US government sources have confirmed that both the USS Bataan and the USS Peleliu have been used to hold prisoners." Reprieve investigations suggest that a further 15 ships have been used to hold prisoners beyond the rule of law since 2001."